Pen/Pencil Holder (The Wood Whisperer)

So, I think I have spent almost as much time watching Marc on The Wood Whisperer as I did watching “His Normness” growing up on PBS. Anyhow, these little pen/pencil holders caught my eye on TWW, so here is my first attempt at making one. It does have its flaws; it certainly was one of those projects where I learned a great deal just from this simple little project.

Anyhow, I had some curly maple with this really wild grain pattern so I used it for the opposing sides; the other opposing sides are black walnut. The base is a glue-up of curly maple, American walnut and black walnut. I used a vertical raised panel bit from Lee Valley on the base.

Before I finished it, I dyed it with 2 coats of aniline dye that a co-worker had left-over from building a banjo. The finish is 4 coats of Watco semi-gloss spray lacquer (my first attempt at putting lacquer on anything!).